Earlier today, the US Embassy in India announced, via Twitter, that in response to the high demand for employment-based visas, the US Mission to India recently released over 100,000 appointments for H&L workers and their families.
According to the tweets, already, thousands of applicants have booked appointments. As reported in Forbes, the wait time for nonimmigrant visa appointments decreased from 392 days on September 28, 2022, to 31 days as of October 4, 2022.
As a further context of the extensive visa appointment delays experienced at the Embassy in India, as of October 4, in Mumbai, the visa interview appointment wait time was 825 days for visitor visas and 430 days for student/exchange visas.
In late September, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The two discussed challenges Indians have faced in receiving visas to work and live in the United States. Blinken promised to address the delay but did not provide details on his plan to reduce backlogs and wait times.
Erickson Insights
While visa application volume has returned to pre-COVID levels, foreign mission staffing has not yet, resulting in significant delays and wait times.
Foreign nationals that need to travel can now travel more liberally, and the release of new appointments may result in less wait time to secure the H and L work visas to begin or continue employment with petitioning U.S. companies.
Erickson Immigration Group will continue to share updates as more news is available. If you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions, please contact your employer or EIG attorney.